UPS downgrade

Putting paid to the notion that profit outlooks outside of financials, retailers and homebuilders and just fine and dandy was this downgrade out of UPS yesterday:

UPS Lowers 1Q 2008 Guidance

Deteriorating U.S. Economic Conditions Restrain Domestic Volume

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--UPS (NYSE: UPS) today announced it had lowered its first quarter earnings expectations to $0.86 or $0.87 per diluted share from a previously anticipated range of $0.94-to-0.98.

At UPS’s investor conference on March 12, Chief Financial Officer Kurt Kuehn stated that UPS’s earnings guidance for the quarter would be difficult to achieve if lower volume trends experienced in February continued through March. The U.S. economy has continued to weaken, causing a reduction in domestic package volume and a shift away from premium products. Significantly increased fuel costs in the quarter also contributed to the lower-than-expected results.

On April 23, the company will discuss first quarter results and its outlook for the year.

Expect more of this and expect the behind the curve analysts to continue lowering forecasts for companies across a wide range of sectors.